As an employer, you have a responsibility to alert employees to potential hazards within your facility. It’s your number-one priority to send every worker home the same way they came in, which hopefully is healthy and injury free.
The standards set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for properly marking physical hazards can help you achieve your ongoing safety objectives. Refer to OSHA Standard 1910.144 for full details. In snapshot form, here’s what these safety colors are all about:
See Red – and Yellow
Use of the safety colors red and yellow are reserved for making specific physical hazards in the workplace. These colors are reserved for the following marking purposes:
- Red is the basic color for identification of fire protection equipment and apparatus. Safety cans or other portable containers with a flash point at or below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and table containers of flammable liquids must be painted red. In addition, there must be additional visible identification in the form of a yellow band or the name of the contents conspicuously stenciled or painted on the can in yellow. Red lights must be provided at safety barricades and temporary obstructions. Emergency stop bars or hazardous machines, button or electrical switches on which letters or other markings appear also shall be red.
- Yellow is the basic color for designating caution. It may be used to mark such physical hazards as striking against, stumbling, falling, tripping and “caught in between.”
Training, Maintenance and Review
While there are no specific OSHA training requirements for safety colors, it is good practice to include their importance in your general safety training programs. Take whatever steps are necessary to help prevent injuries and build or maintain your high OSHA compliance levels.
- When maintenance is undertaken, be sure to uphold safety color coding standards. Needless to say, this is especially critical while painting jobs are in progress. OSHA inspectors have been known to issue citations at plants where stop buttons on machinery have been painted white or aluminum or instruction plates have been removed or painted over.
- Conduct periodic inspections. Be sure that fire extinguishers, flammable liquid safety cans and other designated emergency equipment are properly color coded. Mark areas where slip and trip hazards are likely to occur with yellow as well.
For further updates on OSHA and related workplace safety and HR topics, read our related OSHA posts or contact the workforce development experts at Premium Staffing. Manufacturing is our specialty and we can help with needed process improvements, staffing needs and strategic planning for ongoing business success.
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